Surfing through Qatar's rich heritage

Doha: A website unveiling Qatar's heritage sites is becoming a popular tool among residents and tourists willing to discover some of the country's most beautiful attractions.

www.heritageofqatar.com is the only website on Qatar's heritage providing a list of some 21 historical and cultural sites across the country that remain unknown to the majority of residents and visitors.

"The website helps dispel a common belief that the small Gulf country has little to offer to visitors. On the contrary, Qatar has a rich heritage and many interesting sites to testify to that," said Guido Licciardi, PhD in architecture, who conducted documentary research for the website.

Financed by Carnegie Mellon University, the project which has been strongly supported by the Dean Prof. Charles Thorpe and Assistant Dean Kevin Lamb, was launched a year ago, and since then has become an essential reference for the country's adventurers and weekend's explorers.

The website not only showcases 21 sites including forts, mosques, archaeological areas, traditional houses, museums and souqs with both photos and a written description, but provides also maps and driving directions that can be downloaded, as well as GPS coordinates to enable drivers to easily reach the destinations.

"We have selected a list of 21 sites that are not too distant from the main roads and can be easily reached by car. However, there are many more heritage sites in more distant areas not easily accessible, which may be added to the website list," Licciardi, who is also a specialist in cultural heritage preservation, told Gulf News.

Among the sites, there are some unique attractions, such as the Barzan Towers, a moon observatory dating back to year 1910 or the Al Jassasiya site, one of the few places where visitors can find petroglyphs, which are collections of ancient rare signs carved in stone.

The site also lists the magnificent private collection of Shaikh Faisal Bin Qassem Al Thani that opens upon the public's request.

Museum

Set up in 1960s, the museum features more than 3,000 unique pieces, including ancient Islamic manuscripts, major archaeological findings, metal objects, textiles, carpets, embroidery and antique furniture.

The website also provides the only Qatar's history approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the dawn of the country in the 9th millennium BC to the contemporary developments.

It took some nine months of research supported and facilitated by the Italian Embassy and several local authorities to complete the extensive documentary work on the heritage sites.

Qatar Museums Authority's Restoration Department and Antiquities Department, the Qatar National Museum, the Emiri Diwan and the Shaikh Faisal Bin Qassem Al Thani Museum also supported the researches.

Research Associate Carla Salman-Martinez coordinated the project while graphic designers Eman Yousuf and Fatima Al Kuwair, both students in graphic design at Virginia Commonwealth University and Web designer Hatem Al Esmail, a computer science student at Carnegie Mellon, worked on building the website.

The website is open to future development since it features the functionality of contacting the webmaster of CMU and suggesting adding more sites and information.